Highland drops Springville

LISBON - It was not flashy, but it was effective.

The most important thing was it extended Highland's baseball season.

The Huskies received a strong outing from starter Jacob Wilson and produced just enough offense to beat Springville, 4-2, in an Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A District 9 quarterfinal Tuesday night at Lisbon's City Park.

'We're far from a flashy team,” Highland Coach Mike Mills said. 'We're not a strong hitting team, so we have to play small ball, move the guys around and steal bases.”

It was sufficient, mainly because Wilson managed the game from the mound, keeping Springville off the scoreboard. He got key outs when needed, improving his record to 6-3.

'He doesn't have a lot of innings left,” Mills said of his senior right hander. 'He's making the most of it and he came to play tonight.”

Wilson allowed just one run on four hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out seven. He did walk five, but made up for any mistakes by pitching out of jams when the Orioles had two runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings.

'Coach was telling me just to throw strikes and keep it low,” Wilson said. 'I tried to get ground balls and let my teammates do the rest.”

The Huskies (18-13) played fundamentally sound offensively and defensively until a blip led to two errors in the seventh. Wilson used it to his advantage, setting up his defense to do the work.

'it's great,” Wilson said. 'It makes me feel comfortable that my teammates can do the job and I can rely on them to make a play.”

Battery mate, Ben Bean, earned praise from Mills for his work behind the plate, but he sparked Highland at it.

Bean off the second with a single. Courtesy runner, Chase Rath, who also threw 1 2/3 innings in relief for the save, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice before scoring on Tanner Vonnahme's single to center for a 1-0 lead.

bean tripled to start the three-run fourth. Josh Brase and Billy Burton drove in Jacob Michel and Vonnahme, putting the Huskies up for good.

'Ben had a great game,” Mills said. 'He hit the ball hard.”

Mills said the Huskies' 'Achilles heel” has been a lack of offense. They overcame it to survive and advance, which is the main objective in the postseason.

'Four runs was enough tonight,” Mills said. 'Hopefully we can keep it going.”

Springville (17-13) scored a run in each of the last two innings, moving the tying run into scoring position when Rath retired the final batter. Peter Brooks led the Orioles with two hits and a run.

Highland moves on to face Lisbon (27-11) in the district semifinal Thursday at Lisbon.

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